The Role of Teachers and Their Teaching Practices in Racial Gaps in Advanced Math Course-Taking

• In Event: How Context and Learning Mindsets Advance Academic Outcomes: Findings from National Study of Learning Mindsets

Abstract

Objectives and Perspectives/Theoretical Framework:
Persisting in advanced math coursework during and after the 9th grade year is important for students’ pathways into and through postsecondary education (1, 2). Yet, math coursework is cumulative; how students experience 9th grade math sets their high school math trajectory (3, 4). We examine the role of 9th grade teachers and their learning environments in racial gaps in advanced math enrollment in 10th grade.
Data and Measures:
We use data from the control group in the NSLM because the treatment was found to improve enrollment in advanced math. We start with data from 2,383 Black, Latinx, and White students nested within 187 9th grade math teachers with students’ 10th grade transcripts available. Data linking teacher practices to students come from 1,921 students within 120 teachers who answered the teacher survey. We will be able to increase these numbers once we receive updated enrollment data from all schools.
Our outcome variable indicates whether students took Algebra 2 or above in 10th grade. Our main independent variable of interest is the students’ race, dichotomized to compare white students and underrepresented minority students (black and Latinx students). We condition on students’ background and 8th grade math preparation. Our main teacher variable of interest is teachers’ growth mindset practices, a 7-item assessment that gauges teachers’ beliefs about whether math is open-ended, how they would respond to a struggling student, and their classroom policies to foster improvement. We also condition on teachers’ implicit racial bias, skills, years teaching, pedagogical content knowledge, and fixed mindset.
Methods:
First, we estimate a multi-level model to understand the average achievement gap and how much it varied across teachers (5). The model nests students (level 1) within teachers (level 2) and estimates a fixed intercept (one for each teacher) and a random slope, which allows the magnitude of the achievement gap to vary across teachers (5). Second, we add an interaction between students’ race and teachers’ growth mindset practices.
Results:
Black/Latinx students on average were 5 percentage points less likely to be passed on to advanced math after the end of 9th grade, even when accounting for differences in student background and teacher assignment. The estimated standard deviation of the achievement gap was 12 percentage points, meaning some teachers had a very high achievement gap (20 percentage points or higher) but other favored students of color.
Next, we find that the mean achievement gap was 9 percentage points among math teachers who were not using growth mindset practices, and 0 percentage points among teachers who were using growth mindset practices. These results suggest that teachers who engage with growth mindset practices in their classroom have lower racial achievement gaps in advanced math course-taking than teachers who do not use these classroom practices.
Significance:
This preliminary evidence suggests that supporting teachers’ growth mindset practices may help to close gaps in advanced math course-taking between black/Latino and white students. These mindset practices may contribute to students’ knowledge, use, and enjoyment of math, especially for negatively stereotyped students of color.

Authors

• David Yeager, The University of Texas at Austin

• Jamie Mary Carroll, The University of Texas at Austin

• Ryan Bell, Saint George's College